Civil Forfeiture In Law Enforcement

Arizona law enforcement has abused civil forfeiture by seizing large amounts of property. Table 1 represents the total amount of state forfeiture funds received by law enforcement for the years 2000 to 2014. Arizona law enforcement has forfeited approximately $412 million in property. On average, forfeitures in Arizona are yielding law enforcement $27 million per year (Carpenter et al., 2015, p. 50). Civil forfeiture incentivizes law enforcement in Arizona to seize property because there is no limit to the amount of forfeiture funds that can go towards salaries (Keller, et al., 2012, p. 1 &7). Graph 1 offers a visual representation of the expenditures made by law enforcement in Arizona by type. From the years, 2000 to 2011 majority or 31% of
One practice used by law enforcement to increase profits is reverse stings where an “officer attempts to sell drugs to an unsuspecting buyer” (Moores, 2009, p. 788). This tactic allows law enforcement agents to seize the purchaser’s money instead of drugs, because drugs have “no value for the agency” (Moores, 2009, p. 788). For instance, Mark Flatten (2011) of the Goldwater Institute stated that in the last five years since 2011, the Chandler Police Department in Arizona has raised $6.8 million through forfeitures. In a 12-month period where the department raised $3.2 million, they raised $2.7 million through reverse stings (Flatten, 2011). He states that this number is equal to one fourth of the department’s budget (Flatten, 2011). Out of 35 of their forfeiture cases, 20 were reverse stings and they only targeted low-level marijuana peddlers (Flatten,
The Fraternal Order of Police has 2,100 locations and more than 328,000 members. The AFOOP has a membership of 6,500 law enforcement officers at 37 locations (Arizona, n.da). Executive Director Mann believes in keeping civil forfeiture. He states that civil forfeiture ensures that criminals do not benefit from illegal activity (Hank, n.da). He states that it helps law enforcement pay for the investigation and prosecution of criminal organizations (Hank, n.da).

David Gowan, Arizona House Speaker: Gowan supports the APAAC’s position (Hank, n.db). Pinal County Attorney Lando Voyles stated he has spoken to Gowan and he has plans to block any bill you plan to propose from being heard in the house (Hank, n.db). APAAC lobbyists also believe they have his support. However, Gowan is trying to maintain a neutral role (Hank,